First War Patrol
Flier reached Pearl Harbor from New London, Connecticut, on 20 December 1943, and prepared for her first war patrol, sailing 12 January 1944. However, the submarine ran aground near Midway Island on 16 January. Macaw, a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship, attempted to pull Flier free but ran aground herself and sank. Flier was eventually saved by Florikan and towed to first Pearl Harbor and then the Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. On 21 May she sailed again for action, heading for a patrol area west of Luzon. She made her first contact on 4 June, attacking a well-escorted convoy of five merchantmen. Firing three torpedoes at each of two ships, she sent the transport Hakusan Maru to the bottom and scored a hit on another ship, before clearing the area to evade countermeasures.
On 13 June 1944, Flier attacked a convoy of 11 ships, cargo carriers and tankers, guarded by at least six escorts. The alert behavior of the escorts during the attack resulted in a severe counterattack on Flier before she could observe what damage she had done to the convoy. On 22 June, she began a long chase after another large convoy, scoring four hits for six torpedoes fired at two cargo ships that day, and three hits for four torpedoes launched against another cargo ship of the same convoy the next day.
Read more about this topic: USS Flier (SS-250)
Famous quotes containing the word war:
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